FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2016
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 5
Local
Business Summit held locally High-speed
chase
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
The Community Event
Center, 2600 Cedar Street,
Baker City, was host to the
first Baker County Work-
force Initiative Business
Summit, a workshop held
on Tuesday, November 8,
2016, at 8 a.m.
The Summit brought
together between 50 and
60 area employers and
representatives, in an ef-
fort to improve employer/
employee relationships,
to increase productivity,
to retain people within,
and to attract people to the
County, and to boost the
economy.
Baker County Com-
missioner Bill Harvey
welcomed the crowd, and
explained the purpose
himself, of the summit.
He said the point was to
try to bring together and
to provide resources and
opportunities, and informa-
tion that would aid area
employers in the hiring
process, and in training and
keeping employees in the
County.
He said there are great
success stories of County
businesses, and, “We want
to have more of them. We
want to help people under-
stand that we are, clearly,
a community; we’re here
to help one another, and
to help those who want to
come to Baker County...”
Harvey introduced the
guest speaker, Kim Puzey,
Port of Umatilla Gen-
eral Manager, who spoke
about his background,
and described different
theories put into prac-
tice, related to improving
workplace conditions, and
employee productivity.
These included adjusting
brightness of workplace
lighting, and making
seating more comfortable,
as examples. He said,
“Motivated employees
have better performance...”
He noted two major factors
associated with improving
performance: recognition,
and achievement.
Puzey said that it’s
important for a business
owner or manager to be
adaptable, and to listen to
what employees or poten-
tial employees are saying,
in order to benefit both
parties.
Harvey introduced Alice
Trindle, of the Eastern Or-
egon Visitors Association,
who spoke about the histo-
ry of County tourism. She
said that the Baker County
Chamber of Commerce
first formed a committee
to address tourism and
improving the economy,
in 1979. She said, “If we
can get them (employees)
to be motivated and happy
at their jobs, and under-
stand that they are part of
an amazing experience,
that ultimately, we would
improve our bottom line,
and improve the economy,
for this county...(Tourism
in Oregon) generates just
shy of $11 billion annu-
ally...” Baker County, she
said, brings in about $40
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Todd Arriola / The Baker County Press
Baker County Chamber of Commerce Director Shelly Cutler speaks to
participants.
million of that.
Trindle presented a
couple of videos, which
showcased local businesses
and valuable resources,
and in closing, she empha-
sized the importance of
ambassadorship, and the
economic impacts of tour-
ism in Eastern Oregon.
Harvey introduced Dan
Koopman, Blue Mountain
Community College Baker
City Director, who pre-
sented a slide show, as part
of the “Hospitality: Service
that Sells” segment of
the summit. He provided
some statistics first, among
them, the following: the
average American business
loses 15% of its customer
base each year; 68% of
customers who stop buying
from one business, and
go to another, will do so
due to poor or indifferent
service; and 82% go some-
where else, because of a
specific customer service
issue.
His presentation
included seven steps to
creating a more produc-
tive work environment:
developing a customer
service mission statement;
customer service is attitude
AND action; base train-
ing; coaching employees;
creative Thank Yous; func-
tional walk-through; and
engage, engage, engage.
Koopman said, “Challenge
your customer service
folks every day, to learn
three things...” in order to
make a better connection
with customers.
Harvey introduced Teri
Berry, of Worksource
Oregon, who presented
information as part of the
“Hiring Employees and
Employee Retention”
segment. As part of the
segment, she included
details about the cost to
employers of turnovers,
and the cost savings with
using Worksource Oregon,
in the hiring process.
The estimated cost of
one employee, for ex-
ample, she said, could be
between 20% and 200% of
an employee’s base salary.
An example she gave, for
an employee at $13 per
hour, could be anywhere
from $5,408, to $54,080,
for a turnover. The cost
of a turnover includes:
separation costs, and an
increase in overtime of
other staff; diminished
workplace morale; time
and money spent hiring;
and loss of productivity,
until a trainee reaches full
potential. A video she
presented emphasized a
potential federal tax benefit
for an employer, when
hiring certain workers:
the Work Opportunity Tax
Credit (WOTC), an incen-
tive, in the range of $2,400
to $9,600.
Richard Chaves, of
Chaves Consulting, who
discussed his background,
and his business, and he
said one of his goals was
“...to create an environ-
ment, where people look
forward to coming to work
every day...It’s about ap-
preciating and recognizing
your employees...” He said
Chaves Consulting cur-
rently employs 75.
Harvey introduced
Shelly Cutler, Baker
County Chamber of Com-
merce and Visitors Bureau
Executive Director, who
presented information, as
part of the “Building our
Business Environment”
segment. She spoke about
“community cross-selling,”
a term which wasn’t famil-
iar to many present. She
explained what it means by
using examples, the first
one being a meal at Lone
Pine Cafe enjoyed by a
couple of tourists, during
which a waiter suggests a
drink in the form of Pallet
Jack, from Barley Brown’s
Brew Pub. This hypotheti-
cal involves a walk down
Main Street, and discover-
ing other businesses in
the process, such as No.
1911, The Sycamore Tree,
as well as others. The
scenario included a hotel
stay, at possibly the Best
Western Sunridge Inn, or
Motel 6. “Tourism, like
Alice said, brings tons of
money to Baker County...”
She emphasized “...the
value of cross-selling, to
not only our tourists, but
Tennis court correction
Last week’s issue covered
a City Planning Commis-
sion meeting to discuss
conditional use permit
violations occurring at the
tennis courts owned by
Don McClure.
The article stated that
Joanna McCormick
initiated the September
also, to our community
members...”
Cutler introduced com-
munity partners, including
Baker County Economic
Development Director
Greg Smith; Smith’s staff,
which includes his wife,
Sherri, Julee Hicks, and
Phil Scheuers; Baker City
Manager Fred Ward, Jr.,
who introduced Baker
County Developer Robin
Nudd; Baker County Tour-
ism Marketing Director
Tim Bishop; Blue Moun-
tain Community College
Small Business Develop-
ment Center Advisor Jeff
Nelson; Koopman; Baker
Technical Institute Director
Jerry Peacock; Business
Oregon Business Devel-
opment Officer Melisa
Drugge; and Oregon
Employment Department
Manager Deb Gargalis.
Cutler spoke about
some of the benefits of
joining the Chamber of
Commerce, including
regular communication and
feedback, support of local
businesses, and networking
value, by reaching out to
others in the community,
and being part of a “hub”
for connections.
In closing, Smith said,
“A lot of work went into
preparing for today...” as
he asked for recognition
of the various community
members and partners. He
said the inspiration for the
summit was a conversation
between Smith and Harvey,
and a community survey.
In particular, he thanked
Hicks for her effort in
making the summit, which
he said was a successful
one, a reality. Smith said
the plan is to hold this type
of workshop quarterly, and
the next one will include
information presented from
an employee viewpoint.
Oregon State Police (OSP), the Union County Sheriff’s
Office, US Forest Service Law Enforcement, and BLM
Law Enforcement joined in the search.
OSP considered bringing out their plane to search from
the air, and the Woydziaks of the Baker City Airport of-
fered up two of their own helicopters to aid in the search
for the cost of fuel only. Neither option proved necessary.
Flores’ vehicle was found abandoned and it was clear
he had fled on foot. Lohner said the road system was
confusing and that the vehicle was found at a dead end.
His own vehicle, he said, kept “bottoming out” and the
location was clearly no place for police cruisers.
Lohner said they “followed a blocked-off road for a
mile or a mile and a half.” That was just before noon.
At around 1:15 p.m., law enforcement spotted Flores
about 200 yards away, highly visible in a white T-shirt,
heading west along a roadway near Bazine Creek on the
other side of a meadow.
Flores continued to run into brush and climbed a hill
out of sight, heading west toward Highway 203. Reports
from a local citizen helped locate Flores as he was head-
ing toward Highway 203.
Ash writes, “After phone contact was made with
Flores, he was taken into custody without incident and
transported to the Baker County Jail.” That arrest hap-
pened at 2:28 p.m.
Lohner said he and other officers waited for Five Star
Towing to arrive and remove the vehicle before heading
back to Baker City.
Along with the original warrants, Flores was addition-
ally charged with Attempt to Elude, Reckless Driving and
Escape in the Third Degree.
Shots not fired in
spite of reports
BY KERRY McQUISTEN
News@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Hot on the heels of returning from a high-speed chase
and foot pursuit, Baker City Police Officers returned
to their Department to a report of shots fired within the
Baker City Limits late Tuesday afternoon.
Six officers blanketed the reported area, only to be
repeatedly redirected, eventually zeroing in on the Middle
School area, said Baker City Police Chief Wyn Lohner
shortly after finding the reason for the big bang.
That reason? A group of Middle School students had
placed stolen dry ice into a container near the school,
causing an eventual explosion that was mistaken as gun-
fire. The case is still under investigation.
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complaint. In fact, Pauli
Payne filed the complaint.
McCormick, however, was
present at the meeting to
testify.
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